A Texan conservative Anglican -- yes, a square peg -- ponders both churchly and worldly things and enjoys his new church.

Friday, March 10, 2017

++York Decries Attacks on Philip North UPDATED

In the aftermath of Bishop Philip
North’s decision to withdraw from consideration for the See of Sheffield, the
Archbishop of York’s statement stands out.

He is frank, to say the
least:

…What has happened to Bishop Philip clearly does not
reflect the settlement under which, two and a half years ago, the Church of
England joyfully and decisively opened up all orders of ministry to men and
women. It also made a commitment to mutual flourishing: that those who ‘on
grounds of theological conviction, are unable to receive the ministry of women
bishops or priests, will continue to be within the spectrum of teaching and
tradition of the Anglican Communion, the Church of England remains committed to
enabling them to flourish within its life and structures; and pastoral and
sacramental provision for the minority within the Church of England will be
made without specifying a limit of time and in a way that maintains the highest
possible degree of communion and contribute to mutual flourishing across the
whole Church of England.’

There will be continuing debate in the coming days
and weeks of lessons to be learned, how that learning might inform and inspire
us to act as a Church in our dealings with one another and how, when we
disagree, to disagree Christianly, remembering at all times that our
identity is in Christ alone.

It is now time – during this season of Lent - that
the Church spends time in penitence, repentance and reflection. If we are
serious about our commitment to loving one another and to mutual flourishing
within the Body of Christ, there must now be time for us all to reflect and
recognise in Bishop Philip’s own words ‘The highly individualised nature of the
attacks upon me have been hard. If as Christians we cannot relate to each other
within the bounds of love, how can we possibly presume to transform a nation in
the name of Christ? I hope though that this conversation can continue in
future without it being hung upon the shoulders of one individual.’
I agree with him entirely.

I think this is about as
close as an Anglican archbishop gets to being angry in an official
statement.

Although he does not use
the term, what ++ York is decrying is the con game of
Bait-and-Switch libchurchers play oh so well.They promise tolerance, space, and “mutual flourishing” to
those who disagree with their innovations.But once they lie to get their way and
have enough power, libchurchers throttle the orthodox faithful.Oh, those mossback orthodox laity are
fine as long as they keep the money coming.But if one of those bigots try to become a diocesan bishop….

And, of course, the day
will come when traditionalists won’t be able to become any kind of bishop.Then they won’t be able to become
priests.We’ve seen this sort of
thing in the Episcopal Church already.

So far, there is no
statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury.Where’s the “radical inclusion,” Your Grace?

MORE:
Susie Leafe, Director of Reform has issued a brilliant statement that also
calls out Bait-and-Switch:

I have lost count of the number of
times conservatives have been asked to trust that we can flourish in the Church
of England, but without solid evidence that there is an equal future for
conservatives in the Church of England (beyond that of dhimmitude) it becomes
harder and harder to convince talented young men and women to offer themselves
to serve in this denomination or to persuade congregations to continue to
finance the work.